Diageo plc $DEO Shares Bought by BNP Paribas Financial Markets

BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) by 118.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 685,110 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 371,929 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Diageo were worth $59,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Diageo by 48.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,701,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,410,000 after buying an additional 555,509 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Diageo by 8.5% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,547,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,690,000 after buying an additional 121,008 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Diageo by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 1,371,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,337,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Diageo by 67.5% in the third quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,309,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,943,000 after buying an additional 527,814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Diageo by 0.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,276,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,824,000 after buying an additional 4,227 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 8.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DEO shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Diageo in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research raised Diageo from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. HSBC cut Diageo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Diageo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised Diageo from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.50.

Diageo Price Performance

NYSE:DEO opened at $79.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $79.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.97. Diageo plc has a 12-month low of $72.45 and a 12-month high of $116.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

Diageo Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Friday, April 17th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 17th. This represents a yield of 195.0%.

Diageo Company Profile

Diageo plc is a global producer, marketer and distributor of alcoholic beverages, headquartered in London, England. The company was created through the 1997 merger of Guinness plc and Grand Metropolitan plc and is publicly traded on multiple exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: DEO) and the London Stock Exchange. Diageo operates a worldwide business, selling products in a broad range of markets across the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Diageo’s core activities cover the production, marketing and sale of a diverse portfolio of spirits, beer and liqueurs.